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Sarah H. B. Kahl
Partner
Sarah Kahl focuses her practice on tax and estate planning for individuals and families. Sarah also represents fiduciaries and beneficiaries on the proper administration of a trust or estate. She is a fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Council (ACTEC) and a past chair of the Estate and Trust Law Section of the Maryland State Bar Association (MSBA).
In her work with the MSBA, Sarah successfully advocated for the passage of the Maryland Trust Decanting Act, a law that provides options for the modification of trusts. She met with stakeholders, drafted amendments, and testified before members of the Maryland House of Delegates and Senate.
With her CPA background, she reviews a client's entire financial picture to tailor appropriate tax strategies to the particular client. Her practice includes the administration of foreign trusts and planning for individuals with foreign connections.
She designs and implements wealth transfer strategies, such as spousal lifetime access trusts (SLATs), grantor retained annuity trusts (GRATs), irrevocable life insurance trusts (ILITs), sales to grantor trusts, partnership freezes, and private annuities. She particularly enjoys working with families at multiple generation levels and leading family meetings to facilitate frictionless wealth succession.
Sarah helps clients leave charitable legacies, for example, through the use of a charitable remainder trust (CRT), charitable lead trust (CLT), conservation easements, or the creation and maintenance of a private foundation. She helps clients reach charitable goals by drafting comprehensive gift agreements with recipient charities.
With her trust practice, Sarah advises trustees on how to comply with the terms of the trust document and applicable law. She has significant experience with trust modification, such as through decanting or non-judicial settlement. She is particularly familiar with Maryland’s Trust Decanting Act, based on her participation in its drafting and enactment. She also advises trust beneficiaries on their rights with respect to a trust.
Speaker: Sarah H. B. Kahl, Esq., Partner, Venable LLP
Sometimes the terms of an irrevocable trust frustrate the settlor’s objectives for a variety of reasons. Since last year, Trustees have been able to take advantage of “trust decanting” as another tool to make changes to irrevocable trusts when appropriate. This session will discuss the new law, when to consider decanting as compared to other trust modification techniques, and how to complete a trust decanting with examples.
Speakers: Beth Shapiro Kaufman, J.D., Partner, Lowenstein Sandler, LLP, Meghan Muncey Federman, J.D., Associate, Lowenstein Sandler, LLP, and Molefi McIntosh, J.D., LLM, Associate, Lowenstein Sandler, LLP
Ms. Kaufman, Ms. Federman, and Mr. McIntosh will discuss the hot topics and recent developments of 2024, including both new regulations and recent court decisions. They will include the impact of landmark Supreme Court decisions and will look forward to potential legislative developments in 2025.
Mary E. O'Byrne
Bowie & Jensen, LLC
Partner
Families, financial advisors, accountants and other lawyers seeking assistance in planning for people with special needs know to reach out to Mary for her experience, advocacy and creativity as well as sound legal advice.
Mary’s practice focuses on special needs and estate planning for people with disabilities and their families, including asset protection and management, public benefits counseling, guardianship and alternatives, and other legal issues arising from disability and aging. Mary works frequently with personal injury attorneys when a plaintiff receiving public benefits receives a settlement or jury award, to counsel on the options for preservation of assets while protecting eligibility for benefits. Mary serves as trustee for many special needs trusts; she also serves as counsel for other trustees. Mary was the first Executive Director the First Maryland Disability Trust, Inc., a nonprofit trust company serving people with disabilities.
As an advocate, Mary was instrumental in Maryland’s enactment of protections for special needs trusts in 2011, now under the Maryland Trust Act. From 2013-2018, Mary led the national Special Needs Trust Advocates in meeting with the Social Security Administration; the Advocates’ efforts culminated in a significant update in that agency’s rules affecting special needs trusts in 2018. She served on Governor Larry Hogan’s (Maryland) ABLE Task Force in 2015. As the President of the national Special Needs Alliance (SNA), Mary and the SNA’s public policy committee recently advocated successfully for a small but mighty change in the federal tax law allowing a charity to be named as an ultimate beneficiary of a special needs trust funded with retirement accounts without adverse tax treatment.
As an educator, Mary has been a frequent and popular speaker for the Maryland State Bar Association and the Stetson College of Law Special Needs Trust Conference, as well as public and private schools, government offices and non-profit agencies serving people with disabilities on special needs planning, guardianship and alternatives and public benefits eligibility. She has served as an adjunct professor at the University of Baltimore School of Law.
Mary previously worked with another Maryland law firm, and managed her own practice for many years before joining Bowie & Jensen.
Prior to becoming an attorney, Mary worked in health insurance and managed care for Kaiser-Permanente and the Columbia FreeState Health Plan.
Victoria Z. Sulerzyski has over twenty years of experience in trust and estates law. She represents individuals
and families in connection with wills, trusts, and all aspects of estate planning, including preparation of
wills, trusts, charitable trusts, advance directives, and durable general power of attorneys. She works with
clients on estate administration, preparation of fiduciary income tax returns, and federal and state estate
tax returns. Victoria works closely with clients to preserve and transfer wealth in accordance with their
unique wishes and circumstances.
Victoria also counsels clients on special needs planning, helping them care and provide for disabled family
members long into the future. She advises on transition into post-secondary education and on obtaining
governmental benefits such as SSI, SSDI, and Medicaid. She assists clients with special needs trusts,
including d(4)(a) trusts, third-party special needs trusts, and pooled income trusts.
Victoria also works with families on guardianship matters including representation in circuit court. She
counsels families concerning special education needs such as Individual Education Programs (IEPs) and
related matters and is recognized for her knowledge of the legal challenges facing the disabled. She has
testified on disability issues before the U.S. Congress and the Maryland General Assembly.
Prior to joining Bowie & Jensen, Victoria worked for six years as in-house counsel at an international
educational technology corporation, where she oversaw data privacy matters. She is thus prepared to
advise business clients on state, federal, and international data privacy regulations, breach responses,
regulatory investigations, and internal policies.
Victoria has also served as Chief of Staff to the Honorable Mary Ellen Barbera, Chief Judge of the Maryland
Court of Appeals, and as a law clerk to the Honorable Alan M. Wilner (Retired), also of the Maryland Court of
Appeals. She has served on the boards of several nonprofit organizations, including the Kennedy Krieger
Institute, and in 2012 was honored with the Volunteer of a Lifetime Award by the United Way of Central Maryland
•Member, Maryland State Bar Association
•Member, American Bar Association
•International Association of Privacy Professionals
• Board of Trustees, Langton Green, Inc.
• Board of Trustees, PACT: Helping Children with Special Needs
• Board of Trustees, Kennedy Krieger Institute, 2010-2014
•Member, Maryland Department of Health & Mental Hygiene, Model Waiver Committee
• Recipient, United Way of Central Maryland 2012 Volunteer of a Lifetime Award
• Recipient, American Health Care Lawyers Association Pro Bono Champion Award, 2012
• Super Lawyers, Rising Star, 2014
AFFILIATIONS
Jeremy acts as outside general counsel to privately held companies in Maryland and throughout the
region. With more than 15 years of experience counseling CEOs, business partners, and entrepreneurs
– and an advanced degree in taxation – Jeremy provides clear, practical guidance on a wide range of
transactional and general business matters.
His work for established businesses includes tax-efficient structuring of transactions, such as private
placements of equity and debt, acquisitions, dispositions, reorganizations, recapitalizations, and real estate
leases. In addition to transactional advice, he counsels clients on executive compensation agreements,
incentive plans, succession planning, intellectual property, and employment matters, and works with
clients to create multi-state tax plans and resolve tax disputes.
Jeremy also works with early-stage entrepreneurs and investors, providing initial input and advice on entity
formation, financing, and developing operating and shareholder agreements. His extensive knowledge of
business taxation enables him to provide pivotal guidance on key early-stage compensation arrangements,
including stock options, phantom stock, stock appreciation rights, and profit interests.
He also assists with sophisticated trust and estate planning - as well as tax dispute resolution - for high net
worth individuals with significant business interests, and helps nonprofit clients to obtain a variety of tax
exemptions.
Jeremy oversees the firm’s work on business tax matters, and is an active member of the Maryland State
Bar Association’s tax section.
BOARD AFFILIATIONS AND MEMBERSHIPS
Maryland State Bar Association
• Taxation Section Council member (2010-2016)
• Legislative Proposals Subcommittee member (2012-
2016)
American Bar Association
• Member
Baltimore County Bar Association
• Member
BOARD AFFILIATIONS AND MEMBERSHIPS
MEDIA
• June 2018 Author, “Major Supreme Court Decision
on Sales Tax and Internet Sales”
• 4/16/15 Quoted, “Caveat bitcoin: Towson attorney
advises on ‘cryptocurrency’,” The Daily Record
• 4/1/12 Mentioned, “Law firms plan for change in
leadership,” The Daily Record
REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS
• Represented a technology company in large
mezzanine financing transaction involving issuance of
debentures and warrants
• Guided new management of biotech company in
complex reorganization and recapitalization, including
multiple private placements of stock, as well as
related federal and state securities compliance
matters
• Successfully appealed disallowance of bad debt
deduction and accompanying federal income tax
• Resolved significant tax dispute related to high net
worth individual’s multimillion-dollar investment in
complex insurance-funded defined benefit pension
plan
• Represented entrepreneur in acquisition of assets
of a major regional construction subcontracting
company
• Structured and executed numerous estate plans for
clients with assets exceeding applicable federal and
state estate tax exemptions
• Formed and obtained tax exemptions for many non-
profit corporations, including charitable, religious,
educational, and social welfare organizations, as well
as civic and business leagues, and boards of trade
Speaker: Mary E. O'Byrne, Esq., Partner, Bowie & Jensen LLC, Jeremy T. Garner, Esq., Partner, Bowie & Jensen LLC, Victoria Z. Sulerzyski, Esq., Of Counsel to Bowie & Jensen, LLC
Adele Zilber serves as a Managing Director, SignaturePrivate for Highland Capital Brokerage. She is a seasoned
insurance planning strategist who started in the financial services industry in 1998. Adele specializes in helping
individuals, families, and entrepreneurs find innovative ways to achieve their retirement, risk management, and
legacy planning goals. She is passionate about creating a positive experience for clients throughout the various
stages of the life, long-term care, and disability insurance acquisition process.
Adele holds her Certified Financial Planner®, Chartered
Life Underwriter®, Chartered Financial Consultant®,
certification in Long-Term Care, and Accredited Estate
Planner® designations, as well as her Series 6 and 63
licenses.
She earned her BA from the University of Maryland and graduated with honors with an MBA from Loyola
University Fellows Executive Program. Adele is also a member of the Forum 400, an elite group of top life
insurance professionals from throughout the country for which membership is by invitation only.
Adele has served on various boards and is a past president of the Baltimore Estate Planning Council, one
of the largest and most active councils of its kind in the country. She is a frequent guest speaker for local,
regional, and national organizations on financial planning, life insurance, and long-term care issues. Adele lives in
Baltimore and is an avid Orioles and Terrapins fan. In her spare time, she enjoys concerts, theater, golf, and most
importantly, creating memories with family and friends.
Speaker: Adele Zilber, CFP®, CLU®, ChFC® Managing Director, Highland Capital Brokerage
During this session we will provide a basic overview of why Estate Taxes may always be a consideration for High Net Worth and Ultra High Net Worth clients and how Life Insurance can be utilized in various planning scenarios. We will cover unique ways to evaluate how Life Insurance should be evaluated and analyzed to help determine the value it can add to a plan. We will also review case studies and examples of several common client situations, how to plan around a clients asset mix, and policy structures that should be considered.